A chest physiotherapy device which allows self administered chest physiotherapy to assist in transfer of airway passage secretions.
Normally, the exocrine glands secrete substances onto the surfaces of airway passages as a protection for the lining of the airway passages. In the lungs, these secreted substances also assist in the transport of particles out of the airways. For persons with certain diseases such as cystic fibrosis (“CF”), these secretions may become excessive or altered as to composition or as to chemical properties of certain constituents.
As a non-limiting example, persons with CF may have excessive production of thick, sticky mucus in the airways. Several factors may contribute to the abnormality of the mucus. The cells lining the airways of persons with CF may not transport salt and water normally, so mucus and other airway passage secretions may be depleted of water, thus becoming abnormally viscous. There may also be structural changes in the proteins of the mucus. As a result, the mucus of persons with CF can become so viscous that it obstructs the airway passages. White blood cells recruited into the lungs to fight infection may also die and release their genetic material to the mucus which exacerbates the problem by making the mucus even thicker. CF and other conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease can also produce abnormal secretions which can impair clearance of airway passages.
To dislodge secretions which obstruct airway passages, persons cough frequently. Persons which produce a greater than normal amount of airway passage secretions or abnormally viscous or sticky airway passage secretions may require daily chest and back percussion and body positioning to assist in transfer of these airway passage secretions from airway passages.
A substantial problem for persons which require daily chest or back percussion can be that the treatment cannot be self administered. Chest and back clapping requires the participation of a therapist to administer repeated chest and back claps. This repeated therapy with the assistance of a therapist can be expensive, inconvenient and time consuming.
Certain attempts have been made to address this problem by the provision of devices which deliver oscillations to the chest. For example, as described by U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,263 a garment or vest (“vest type device”) can be worn by a person which generates oscillations by change in pneumatic pressure within the vest. However, there are problems with vest type devices in that the wearer may be prevented from being positioned in an inclined or semi-inverted position (“inclined position”), the frequency and amplitude of the oscillations produced by vest type devices can be insufficient to dislodge airway passage secretions, the vest type product must be sized to the wearer and can be uncomfortable to use due to pressure delivered to the chest from the vest type device. The lack of comfort can significantly reduce patient compliance. Additionally, the vest can be difficult for young children to use without caregiver assistance, and is generally not appropriate for children under the age of two.
The instant inventive chest physiotherapy device addresses each of the substantial problems above-described.